5 Years of using Last.FM...what it says about your listening habits.

Last.FM is something that I originally signed up for thinking I would never use it, but over time I've discovered that it's a really good way to take stock of my listening habits. I was glancing at the site the other night and realized that in a couple months time I will have been using it for 5 years now, prior to the internet age it was damn near impossible to gauge which artists I listened to most over a 5 year period.

*Caveat* - The only downside to Last.FM is that it does not keep track of LPs I've listened to or CDs that I've played during that time, so some artists that probably should be on the list didn't make it. However, about 85% of my music listening over the past 5 years has been done via the computer so it's fairly accurate.

Here are the Top 20 Artists I've listened to from 2008 til 2013:

1. Porcupine Tree
2. Opeth
3. Black Sabbath
4. Rush
5. Jimi Hendrix
6. Jethro Tull
7. King Crimson
8. Yes
9. Thin Lizzy
10. Deep Purple
11. Pink Floyd
12. Steven Wilson
13. E.L.O.
14. Steely Dan
15. Robin Trower
16. Budgie
17. Camel
18. Blue Oyster Cult
19. Lucifer's Friend
20. Led Zeppelin

A few things I noticed about the list:

#1. There are only 3 artists represented that didn't start their careers in either the 60s or 70s.

#2. There are no 1980s era acts in the top 20.

#3. Jimi Hendrix, Steely Dan and BOC are the only US based artists on the list.

Anyone else that uses LAST.FM want to share their "all-time" stats?

I've been on Last.fm since 2005. I currently have 9, 445 artists. Here is my top 20...

1 Last Days of Humanity 4,819
2 Intestinal Disgorge 3,270
3 Splattered Entrails 2,929
4 Mortician 2,778
5 Phyllomedusa 2,582
6 Pathology 2,089
7 Magrudergrind 1,971
8 Regurgitate 1,919
9 Haemorrhage 1,916
10 Devourment 1,836
11 Cock and Ball Torture 1,759
12 Asphyx 1,733
13 Prostitute Disfigurement 1,695
14 Anal C*nt 1,689
15 Aborted 1,688
16 Napalm Death 1,473
17 Blue Holocaust 1,466
18 Nasum 1,463
19 7 H.Target 1,448
20 Embalming Theatre 1,429

Here is an app that dissects it more thoroughly...
http://www.mymusichabits.com/visualize/mc666

Just remove my last.fm name & add yours to the link to get yours.

MC, what happened to the beard man? Must have been the wife  

SD, your list looks exactly like what I would have expected. No jazz?

GrandNational wrote:

No jazz?

There is definitely jazz but it doesn't crack the top 20 because I tend to listen to so many different artists that I don't rack up enough play counts for individual musicians.

Miles Davis ranked at #30, Hank Mobley #34, Kenny Burrell #39, John Coltrane #42, etc.

mc666 wrote:

I've been on Last.fm since 2005. I currently have 9, 445 artists. Here is my top 20...

1 Last Days of Humanity 4,819
2 Intestinal Disgorge 3,270
3 Splattered Entrails 2,929
4 Mortician 2,778
5 Phyllomedusa 2,582
6 Pathology 2,089
7 Magrudergrind 1,971
8 Regurgitate 1,919
9 Haemorrhage 1,916
10 Devourment 1,836
11 Cock and Ball Torture 1,759
12 Asphyx 1,733
13 Prostitute Disfigurement 1,695
14 Anal C*nt 1,689
15 Aborted 1,688
16 Napalm Death 1,473
17 Blue Holocaust 1,466
18 Nasum 1,463
19 7 H.Target 1,448
20 Embalming Theatre 1,429

Here is an app that dissects it more thoroughly...
http://www.mymusichabits.com/visualize/mc666

Just remove my last.fm name & add yours to the link to get yours.

Wow, that's pretty impressive! Of your whole list I've only heard of three bands! (Cock & Ball Torture, Anal C**t and Napalm Death) Of those I have only heard the music of one! (ND)

Good Job!

GrandNational wrote:

MC, what happened to the beard man? Must have been the wife  

She was definitely happy about it being scaled back, but she wasn't the reason. I trimmed up when applying for a business loan.

Boris2008 wrote:

Wow, that's pretty impressive! Of your whole list I've only heard of three bands! (Cock & Ball Torture, Anal C**t and Napalm Death) Of those I have only heard the music of one! (ND)

Good Job!

Thanks man! I listen to a lot of underground artists & I'm not really genre specific. I have my favorites of course, but I like a lot of stuff. The real gems always appear below the radar. I could be jamming a female folk singer one day, a goregrind band the next, and follow that with a power electronics artist.

I was on there with a bang for a little while, but ain't nobody got time for that.

I've been on since October, 2011. I've racked up 31391 tracks (and counting) since then.

My top 20 is:

Steely Dan, 833
Yes, 779
Fates Warning, 747
Rush, 739
King Crimson, 668
Townes Van Zandt, 617
Marillion, 610
Queensryche, 609
Iron Maiden, 602
Opeth, 598
maudlin of the Well, 531
Savatage, 464
Wishbone Ash, 438
Judas Priest, 393
Black Sabbath, 371
Between the Buried and Me, 318
Jag Panzer, 304
Sortilege, 302
Kate Bush, 299
Gentle Giant, 298

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I was on there with a bang for a little while, but ain't nobody got time for that.

What time? You download the plugin, or the app (for your phone, iPod) & it catalogs everything you listen to on your internet enabled device. There is really no effort in keeping it going. Just enjoy the music. It does all the work, unless you want to participate in the community.

Never used Last.fm. I would cull some results from Rhapsody but my wife and kid use it so the results would be mixed with a lot of classical, female indie, and Thomas the Tank Engine.